George de Fretes

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George de Fretes
Born23 December 1921
Bandung, Dutch East Indies
Died19 November 1981 (1981-11-20) (aged 59)
Los Angeles County, California
GenresHawaiian music
Occupation(s)Music
InstrumentsSteel guitar
Associated acts The Amboina Serenaders, Joyce Aubrey, Wanda de Fretes, Ming Luhulima, The Mena Moeria Minstrels , The Royal Hawaiian Minstrels, The Samoa Voices, The Tielman Brothers Rudi Wairata

George de Fretes (1921-1981) was a musician from Indonesia who found fame in the Netherlands. Like his fellow countrymen Ming Luhulima and Rudi Wairata, he found sizable popularity in the Netherlands and Europe playing Hawaiian music.

Contents

Background

De Fretes came from the Maluku Islands, Indonesia and was born 23 December 1921 in Bandung. [1] He was married to Joyce Aubrey and together they had a daughter Wanda, who was born in Bandung, Indonesia in 1946 and became a recording artist, like her musical parents. [2] [3] By 1952, de Fretes and Aubrey had divorced and she had moved to the Netherlands, taking their daughter Wanda with her. [4] Aubrey joined The Mena Moeria Minstrels as their singer. The group was headed by Ming Luhulima. [5] It is believed that de Fretes stowed away on a ship called the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and arrived in the Netherlands around 1958. [6] [7] [8]

Death

De Fretes died on 19 November 1981. [9] He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery, Los Angeles County, California. [10] He is buried next to his idol Sol Hoʻopiʻi. [11]

Career

De Fretes was a multi instrumentalist. In addition to the steel guitar, he also played guitar, violin, trumpet and saxophone. [12] He became a popular artist in the Netherlands, and like Luhulima, gained his fame there. [13] [14] Along with Luhulima he was responsible for the Portuguese style or genre of music in the Netherlands called Kroncong becoming well known. [15] He is also credited with teaching Rudi Wairata techniques on the steel guitar. [16]

In 1960, he released an EP record on the Fontana label that featured the song "Ou' OelateZ". The record also featured Joyce Aubrey and Bill Toma on vocals. [17] In 1966, he joined the Tielman Brothers and went on tour with them. He also recorded an album with Frank Valdor in 1966. Later he left to settle in the United States permanently. [18] [19] Around 1970 or 1971, Hula Girl was released on the Eclipse label. This was a re-release of an earlier album, Aloha Keakua that was released on the Omega label. [20]

In September 2010, his daughter Wanda took a trip from California to the third Chanos International Steel Guitar Festival aka CISGF which was held in Chanos-Curson, France, to receive a posthumous European Steel Guitar Hall of Fame award for her father. [21]

LP Discography

George de Fretes albums
ActTitleRelease infoYearFNotes
George de FretesGeorge De FretesDecca SLQ 2500010" LP
George de Fretes En Zijn Krontjong-orkestIndonesian FolkloreDecca XBY 846 519LP
George de FretesHeimwee Naar InsulindeDecca1988CDGerman release
The Royal Hawaiian Minstrels albums
ActTitleRelease infoYearFNotes
George de Fretes & His Royal Hawaiian MinstrelsHawaiian ParadiseDecca – NP 356 001LP
George de Fretes and his Royal Hawaiian MinstrelsAloha KeakoaOmega 333 075LP
Royal Hawaiian Minstrels O.l.v. George de Fretes met zang van:
Wanda, Sita en de Samoa Voices
Royal Hawaiian Minstrels O.l.v. George de Fretes met zang van:
Wanda, Sita en de Samoa Voices
Iris Records 15042LP
George de Fretes And The South-Sea-MelodiansIsland In The Sun
Hawaiian-Klänge Mit George De Fretes And The South-Sea-Melodians
Tip 633 147LPRoyal Hawaiian Minstrels aka South Sea Melodians
The Royal Hawaiian Minstrels Conducted by George de Fretes With The Samoa VoicesBeautiful Hawaii: The Most Beautiful Hawaiian SongsPMF Records 90 533-21991CD [22]
George de Fretes En Zijn Suara Istana albums
ActTitleRelease infoYearFNotes
George de Fretes En Zijn Suara IstanaHeimwee Naar InsulindeDecca 625 372 QL1976LP [23]

Related Research Articles

The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashioned by African-Americans in the United States. The banjo is frequently associated with folk and country music, and has also been used in some rock, pop and hip-hop. Several rock bands, such as the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and The Allman Brothers, have used the five-string banjo in some of their songs. Historically, the banjo occupied a central place in Black American traditional music and the folk culture of rural whites before entering the mainstream via the minstrel shows of the 19th century. Along with the fiddle, the banjo is a mainstay of American styles of music, such as Bluegrass and old-time music. It is also very frequently used in traditional ("trad") jazz. Banjo is also a common instrument for Caribbean genres like Biguine, Calypso and Mento.

Guitar Fretted string instrument

The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A plectrum or individual finger picks may be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant chamber on the instrument, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier.

Lap steel guitar Type of steel guitar

The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional acoustic guitar, in which the performer's fingertips press the strings against frets, the pitch of a steel guitar is changed by pressing a polished steel bar against plucked strings. Though the instrument does not have frets, it displays markers that resemble them. Lap steels may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, depending on whether they are acoustic or electric, but in either case, do not have pedals, distinguishing them from pedal steel guitar.

Sol Hoʻopiʻi Native Hawaiian guitarist

Solomon Hoʻopiʻi Kaʻaiʻai was a Native Hawaiian guitarist, claimed by many as the all-time best lap steel guitar virtuoso. He was one of the most famous original Hawaiian steel guitarists, along with Joseph Kekuku, Frank Ferera, Sam Ku West and "King" Bennie Nawahi.

Jaap Kunst

JaapKunst was a Dutch ethnomusicologist, particularly associated with the study of gamelan music of Indonesia. He is known for coining the word "ethno-musicology" as a more accurate alternative to the then-preferred term, "comparative musicology".

Indorock is a musical genre that originated in the 1950s in the Netherlands. It is a fusion of Indonesian and Western music, with roots in Kroncong. The genre was invented by Indo repatriates in the Netherlands after Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945, and became popular especially in Germany. Indorock is one of the earliest forms of "Eurorock". Its influence on Dutch popular music was immense.

The Tielman Brothers was the first Dutch-Indonesian band to successfully venture into the international music scene in the 1950s. They were one of the pioneers of rock and roll in The Netherlands, and are credited with releasing the first Dutch rock and roll single, Rock Little Baby of Mine in 1958. The band became famous in Europe for playing a kind of rock and roll later called Indorock, a fusion of Indonesian and Western music with roots in Kroncong. At the height of their career, in the 1950s and early 1960s, the band was hailed as one of the greatest live-acts in Europe.

3rd bridge

The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on the electric guitar and other string instruments that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bridges. The timbre created with this technique is close to that of gamelan instruments like the bonang and similar Indonesian types of pitched gongs.

A third bridge can be devised by inserting a rigid preparation object between the strings and the body or neck of the instrument, effectively diving the string into distinct vibrating segments.

Andy Tielman was an influential Indo (Eurasian) artist, recognised as the "godfather" of Indorock, the style of rock and roll played by Indo artists in the 1950s and 1960s. He is considered one of the most important figures in Dutch popular music, and "defied the notion that early rock and roll was a phenomenon of white and black musicians from America".

Rudi Wairata aka Rudy Wairata(1929/1930 –1981) was an influential Indonesian musician who had fronted the Mena Moeria Minstrels and the Amboina Serenaders. Wairata's style of playing was influenced by Sol Hoʻopiʻi and Andy Iona. Along with George de Fretes he was a prominent musician in the genre of Hawaiian steel guitar music. His song "Rock'n Roll Breezes" may be the first Indo-rock song.

Ming Luhulima, also known as Lou Lima was a Netherlands-based recording artist originally from the Maluku Islands, which were part of the Dutch East Indies. He was closely associated with Rudi Wairata during his career. Luhulima was a member of the Amboina Serenaders and the Mena Moeria Minstrels, and also led the Krontjong Ensemble Pantja Warna.

Wanda de Fretes is a singer and recording artist who was popular in the Netherlands in the 1960s. She is also the daughter of legendary Moluccan steel guitarist George de Fretes and singer Joyce Aubrey. In addition to her solo efforts, she also recorded with her mother as the duo Wanda & Joyce. Besides singing pop and rock'n roll, she also sang traditional Indonesian and Malayan songs.

Joyce Aubrey was a singer and recording artist who was popular in the Netherlands in the 1960s as part of the duo Wanda & Joyce. She is also the mother of singer Wanda de Fretes as well as the ex-wife of legendary steel guitarist George de Fretes. In addition to her solo efforts, she also recorded with George de Fretes and the Amboina Serenaders, a popular Netherlands based band whose members included Ming Luhulima and Rudi Wairata. Some of their songs did well in Germany as well.

The Amboina Serenaders were a successful and popular group that did well in the Netherlands in the 1950s. Its members included Ming Luhulima, Rudi Wairata and Joyce Aubrey, the ex wife of George de Fretes. They had a top ten hit in the Netherlands with "Klappermelk Met Suiker".

The Mena Moeria Minstrels were a popular Netherlands based Hawaiian music group. They were made up of mainly Moluccans from the former Dutch East Indies colony. The group was originally led by steel guitarist Rudi Wairata and also featured Joyce Aubrey and Ming Luhulima. They were prolific in their output releasing at least twenty singles in the 1950s.

Coy Pereira (1919-2005) was a Netherlands based guitarist and steel guitarist originally from Batavia in the Dutch East Indies. He was a member of the Kilima Hawaiians and had recorded with the Mena Moeria Minstrels as well as having work released under his own name. He is said to be in the same class of fellow steel guitarists, George de Fretes and Rudi Wairata.

Rosy Pereira Indonesian-Dutch pop singer (born 1951)

Rosy Pereira is an Indonesian-Dutch pop singer. She is the daughter of steel guitarist Coy Pereira. She released singles in the 1960s under her name as well as Babe Pereira. In the mid to late 1970s she was the other half of the duo Rosy & Andres who had a hit with "My Love".

The Kilima Hawaiians were a well known and popular Dutch Hawaiian music group who had a hit with "Er hangt een Paardenhoofdstel aan de Muur" / "Es hängt ein Pferdehalfter an der Wand". Some of the steel guitarists that played with them were Rudi Wairata, Coy Pereira and Frans Doolaard.

Wanda & Joyce was a popular 1960s Netherlands based mother and daughter act made up of Wanda de Fretes and her mother Joyce Aubrey.

Albertha Wilhelmina Tideman-Wijers was a Dutch composer who lived in Indonesia for almost two decades and incorporated Indonesian elements into her compositions. She published her music under the name Bertha Tideman-Wijers.

References

  1. Berita Satu 28 August 2014 RRI Ambon Abadikan Musisi George de Fretes Sebagai Nama Auditorium
  2. Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters Edited by Bart Barendregt and Els Boegerts Page 286 Chapter twelve, Rein Spoorman
  3. Indo-Rock-Gallery Wanda & Joyce
  4. Eastindonesia.com Wanda & Joyce
  5. Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters Edited by Bart Barendregt and Els Boegerts Page 286 Chapter twelve, Rein Spoorman
  6. The Waikiki Islanders website Rudi Wairata, *1958* *1958*
  7. The Fanzine 17.11.15 Turn Down for Everything: An Annotated Playlist - Molly Brodak
  8. Bluesharmonica.nl Hawaiian muziek met o.a de Kilima Hawaiians en George de Fretes. In later years, de Fretes moved to the United States where he resided in California, DEEL 2:
  9. BBC Music, George de Fretes
  10. Find A Grave Frits George De Fretes
  11. Concertzender.nl Saturday 15 March 2014 23:00 - 00:00 Exitos Musicales, Surata Istana of Krontjong Minstrels led by George De Fretes (repeat).
  12. Sam Sam Music George de Fretes and his Royal Hawaiian Minstrels - The Home Recordings Vol.5
  13. Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters Edited by Bart Barendregt and Els Boegerts Page 286 Chapter twelve, Rein Spoorman
  14. Language Endangerment and Language Maintenance: An Active Approach Page 295
  15. Concealment, Maintenance and Renaissance: language and ethnicity in the Moluccan community in The Netherlands Page 24
  16. The Waikiki Islanders Rudi Wairata *1950* *1950*
  17. University of Hawaii Hawaiian Music Collection, Song Title: Ou' Oelate
  18. Bluesharmonica.nl Hawaiian muziek met o.a de Kilima Hawaiians en George de Fretes, DEEL 2:
  19. The Power Of Indonesia The Tielman Brothers, The greatest Indorock legend
  20. BMG; Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar Page 294
  21. Pedalpro.co.uk Jan Visser awarded at the CISGF 2010 by Jan Visser and Digby Hardy Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  22. Discogs George de Fretes Discography, Albums
  23. Discogs George de Fretes Discography, Albums